Lama
Description: Tree that can reach heights of seven to thirteen meters tall with thick light green leaves that are leathery and dull.
ʻōlelo mua (Introduction):
Inoa(Name):
- Scientific – Diospyros Sandwicensis
- Hawaiian – Lama
- English – Persimmon, Ebony
ʻOhana: Part of Ebenaceae family
Kūlana olakino(Status): Endemic
Kaianoho(Habitat):
- D. sandwicensis: dry to mesic to wet forest, 5–1220 m, D. hillbrandii 150-760 m, diverse mesic forest (Wagner et al. 1990:585–587).
Microscopy
- Cross Section: Field of view: 2.6 mm x 1.6 mm.
- Radial Section: Field of view: 2.6 mm x 1.6 mm.
- Tangential Section: Field of view: 2.6 mm x 1.6 mm.
Nū hou ʻAno ʻano (Seed Information):
Seed length approximately 14 mm.
Nū hou Propagation(Propagation Information):
- Intermediate. Fresh seeds covered with 1/4 in potting medium, water regularly; slow growing as time goes on; pot sprouts after 1st phase of root growth in a tall, well drained pot; needs careful nurture once planted in ground, needs certain mauka forest soils to thrive (Bornhorst 1996:66–67; Culliney and Koebele 1999:98–101).
Lāʻau lapaʻau(Medicinal Use):
- Can be found as a secondary ingredient in many remedies.
- For help with cuts, boils, abscesses, bruises, and cold sores, powdered lama and other plant species are mixed.
- For burns on the rear, lama ashes along with other plants are combined and the mixture is applied as a salve.
- Lama can also treat white flesh bumps, ‘ea and pala o ka waha in children, and the illness palaki’o.
Ways it was Used:
- Hard wood used for god images, house posts, and house fences and the fruits were eaten. Lama is a sacred plant, and a uncarved block of wood was placed at a hula altar and wrapped in yellow kapa.
Kino lau(Many Forms taken by Supernatural body): None
